Productivity Commission report fails NZ

The Productivity
Commission has again failed to understand the real
challenges facing New Zealand’s universities and is trying
to fix what’s not broken while ignoring things that
are.

Professor Stuart McCutcheon, Chair of Universities
New Zealand, says, “The fundamental issue is that funding
and regulations are so locked down they are now the main
constraint on the ability of our universities to create the
truly great universities that New Zealand needs and
deserves.

“At no point in its 500-page report does the
Productivity Commission acknowledge that New Zealand has
what is probably the world’s most efficient and effective
university system.

“Despite having the lowest funding
levels per student in the developed world, all of the New
Zealand universities are ranked in the top 3% of
universities internationally. Our teaching is regarded as
world-class and our qualifications are internationally
recognised and highly regarded around the world.

“Compared to every country for which we can locate
statistics, our graduates have the best qualification
completion rates (84%), highest graduate employment rates
(98%) and lowest under-employment rates (12%).

“Our
research is also outstanding – with international citation
rates at 1.4 times the average. We have struck a good
balance between research intensity and teaching
quality.”

The universities create huge value for New
Zealand, even though our average expenditure per student is
US$15,400, which is 5% below the OECD average. In
comparison, in Australia it’s US$19,916, in the United
Kingdom it’s US$25,700, and in the United States
$27,900.

Per student, the sector spends just 77% that of
Australian universities, and 61% that of Canadian
universities.

Chris Whelan, the Executive Director of
Universities New Zealand, says the Commission has lost sight
of the real issues hindering the continued development of
the sector.

“They are arguing that deregulation and
opening the market up to more international competition is
the key to producing a better system for students and
employers.

“The reality is that our funding levels are
too low to attract high quality international providers or
to produce the innovative new forms of teaching that are
appearing in other parts of the world. All of the
universities identified previously by the Productivity
Commission as demonstrating international best practice, are
funded at rates at least three times that of New Zealand
providers. We are not in principle opposed to competition,
but we cannot be expected to compete with international
providers while government continues to tie our hands with
low funding levels.

“Similarly, our funding system
hasn’t really changed since it was introduced in the early
1990s. Today universities are still being funded as though
they were delivering in the old classroom-based model. The
funding system hasn’t evolved to reflect the opportunities
and challenges of today’s mix of internet-based delivery,
workplace-delivered teaching, or work-integrated learning.

Chris Whelan says universities are concerned that instead
of addressing these issues, the Commission has recommended
an odd mixture of deregulation, heavier regulation,
experimentation and pilot programmes.

“They are also
proposing changes like getting rid of University Entrance
and the quality system that is applied to all university
qualifications.

“It’s not sensible,” says Chris
Whelan. “The reason we have so few young people failing
at university is because University Entrance sends a good
signal that they are academically ready for university-level
study. And the reason all our universities are so highly
ranked internationally, and why we have such good graduate
employment rates, is that we have an effective, world-class
quality assurance system involving collaboration between the
eight universities.

“We accept that there are always
opportunities to tweak settings around things like
University Entrance, or quality assurance, but getting rid
of them and opening the market to international providers
isn’t going to deliver better quality for students. The
international evidence shows that where this has been done
elsewhere you get for-profit providers setting up shop
offering low quality degree programmes that usually leave
students with large debts and with qualifications that
employers don’t value.”

On the plus side, Universities
New Zealand is pleased the Commission has taken up their
recommendation for a more joined-up careers information
system, enabling secondary students and their families to
make better informed choices.

Universities New Zealand has
also welcomed the Commission’s recognition that current
funding arrangements and levels are a problem and that
changes are needed if our universities are to continue
delivering world-class teaching and learning to New
Zealanders.

In addition, the universities are pleased that
the Commission has recognised the need for a more
differentiated tertiary education strategy, to reflect the
different roles and objectives of the wide range of tertiary
education providers.

Chris Whelan says universities look
forward to contributing to further conversations about what
is really constraining New Zealand’s universities from
doing more to help this country and its
people.

ALSO:

"Unfortunately we are in crisis and this friendly dinosaur faces extinction… Our only hope is to try and raise funds to buy the building and restore it to its glory, either fully funded or with a viable deposit." More>>

Previously undiscovered letters and a story written by a young Katherine Mansfield were recently unearthed in Wellington City Library’s archives by a local author researching a book about the famous writer. More>>